Good morning fellow enthusiasts,
The wife's car is in getting snow tires today, and of course the shop is calling with a list of other services they tell me it needs. I can blow off most of them, but I'm not sure about an alignment. Is this really necessary on an 07 with only 19K miles?
Thanks for the advice,
Rob

 

Usually not necessary.

 

Best way to tell is how the tires are wearing, feel the surface of the tires for any unusual feathering or uneven wear. I 've had brand new cars with the alignment out. Make sure you have a full tank of gas before the alignment since that's recommended by BMW on all their cars in addition to adding weights to both sides in the car.

 

You may need one if you've hit a lot of potholes. They should be able to set the car up on their machine and get your current alignment specs. If they are within MINI's recommendations, no need to adjust.

 

Yep.......check the tires for any uneven wear.

 

My MINI was delivered with about 1/4" toe in at the front. I corrected it myself the first weekend after I got it.

 

Thanks for all the advice! I told them to forget it until I could see the all seasons that came off it, and check them for wear.
Cheers - Have a great weekend!
Rob

 

You definitely don't need one due to changing tires.. doesn't mean that it's not otherwise needed though. If it's not pulling and the existing tires aren't wearing funny, then I'd definitely skip it.

 

How about getting an alignment before getting new tires? That way, when the tire place "checks" the alignment, I'll know if they're being straight with me.

 

That would work, but that would mean you'd pay to get an alignment either way. Isn't the idea to see if you need one at all?

 

I got an alignment when I put new wheels (and tires) on but it did set me back $180 at the dealership.

 

I got new tires and didn't have alignment. Tires are wearing fine at 6k miles. $180 is way more than one of the tires. My dealer suggested alignment when I rotated the original RF tires at about 15k miles ($110) but I passed on that.

 

My 07 had an alignment after 12k miles. Steering wheel was noticeably not straight anymore. One of the settings was off (I don't recall which). Not by much though.

 

I got an alignment when I replaced tires as well. What ever the cost it was worth it, the Steering Wheel was off center and other adjustments had to be done as well.

 

Isn't the aligment covered by the maintenance plan? When I took my car in for the first service I asked them to check it and they said if it needs it they will do it. I assumed that meant it was covered? it won't be covered by anything not routine like putting on snow tires I imagine.

 

If your alignment is out of OEM spec, it should be covered in the maintenance plan. Swapping snows on or off will not affect the alignment of the car.

 

Alignment is not covered under the normal maintenance plan. If some part was worn or broke causing an alignment issue, the part and repairs would be covered, but not the alignment itself.

 

They don't cover tire rotations nor alignments. That stuff is WAY cheaper elsewhere, probabably by half.

 

I just got new tires on my Mini Cooper 07 and had an alignment done at a near by tire shop. After which I noticed the steering is not handling as well as before. I dont get that stiff feel that I like so much. I dont know if its because I switched from ContiPremiumContact2 to ContiPremiumContact tires. Or as I read before because I did not have a full gas tank. In fact it was very low. Could this have affected the alignment?

 

Find yourself a Nissan dealer (that sells the GTR), they all had to install hawkeye laser alignment racks a year or two ago. They always have some sort of alignment specials on (usually $79-89) , the machine has the new Mini's in the software, and are second to none for a precise alignment.
I found my rear camber/toe was out a bit from the factory and required nudging the rear subframe over a bit. The oem lower control arms (concentrics) don't have a lot of adjustment range.

All that being said, if it's your wifes car, you didn't notice anything while driving it, and the tires have been wearing evenly, I'd leave it alone and save your money.

 

I had a nearby tire shop, which offered free CHECKING of alignment... They showed me a printed report of the state of each tire.. turned out I did need an adjustment on the front wheels.. they charged only for the actual alignment work (~$30)

 

Can't beat that price...nice!

How long did it take them and did they use a laser alignment setup?

 

They took about an hour for alignment + wheel balancing... I'd bought a set of used wheels, which weren't in prime shape, balancewise

 

My steering wheel is off and I had my 2007 aligned -- the right rear was out of specs they said , still drives ok but my steering wheel is still off. I had an alignemnt done after I had linear springs which lowered the car a bit and more adjustable rear lower control arms. Anyone have any ideas why my steering didn't straighten up after alignment?

 

Either their machine is out of spec or the tech didn't know/care what he was doing. I've seen guys lean on the heads to get a good printout w/o actually getting the car properly adjusted. Get it checked/adjusted at a reputable (performance) shop. The Mini's short wheelbase makes it very sensitive and a sloppy job will haunt you.